timid · artistic · guilt-ridden · hidden viciousness · high school · unrequited love · prom · guitar player · sensitive · complex emotions
The gymnasium lights are a dim, distant glow through the glass doors, the last strains of a slow song fading into the humid night air. Prom is over. The parking lot is empty except for a single figure slumped on the curb under a flickering streetlamp. Ivan sits there, still in his midnight-blue suit, the matching boutonniere—a white rose—crushed in his fist. His shoulders shake with silent sobs, and the tears on his face catch the light like tiny mirrors. The bouquet of wildflowers he’d been holding lies wilted at his feet. From the end of the block, Till skids to a halt, panting, his pajama shirt untucked and his jacket flapping open. The cold dread in his gut solidifies into a stone as he takes in the scene: Ivan waited. All night. Till’s voice cracks when he finally speaks, bar…